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Why one person is walking for Leukemia research

Blog: #1 of 2 by Tom Gari

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The following is why my wife is walking for team philadelphia raising awarness and money for Leukemia research

My big brother has always been my hero. As a little girl growing up in the middle of nowhere, he was my most common playmate and one of my best teachers. Don’t get me wrong, we fought like cats and dogs at times but just let an “outsider” fight with one of us and you got both of us. He was really smart and completely fearless. He had endless energy and a quiet charisma that made you want to follow him even when you knew you were doing something dangerous. He loved music was a drummer in every band our school had as well as the fireman’s drum line. He held a job, worked on the stage crew at the high school and was an Eagle Scout. He would do anything for a friend in need.
In 1990, my brother was diagnosed with Acute Myelogeneous Leukemia (AML). One day he was a junior at Thiel College and the next he was in the hospital waiting for chemotherapy. I was three weeks into my freshman year at Penn State and away from home for the first time. I still remember getting the call. “Your brother is in the hospital. His white counts are really low. He has leukemia.” Can you come home this weekend to be tested as a bone marrow donor?” I don’t remember anything else but the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The doctor told us we had a little chance of a match. Boys don’t usually match girls. They said maybe my younger sister. Maybe we should check with other relatives to see if anyone else will be tested. I knew from the first moment that I would be the match. Mom always said we were as thick as thieves and everybody used to mistake us for twins when we were really little. His battle was short but difficult. He picked up a rare systemic infection through his portal. There were only 30 known cases of it ever. He was overly sensitive to the chemotherapy and eventually his body stopped producing blood altogether. He was living on transfusions. Thankfully my mom was willing to do anything to save her baby boy even if it was an experimental drug that she had to sign a waiver for him to get. He got the drug and it boosted his system enough to beat the infection but we were still told that he had to have the bone marrow transplant sooner rather than later. It would not hurt and he would not survive without it.
On January 2 1991, they did the transplant and a month later my brother was home and well on his way to beating this disease. My mom used to get money from the leukemia society so she could pay for gas to get him to his daily trips to the doctors. Thank God that my dad worked for the State and his insurance paid for the very expensive drugs that he needed. We counted his recovery in days, weeks, months and then years. It has been almost 21 years that my brother is cancer free. Now he is a hero to more than just me. He is an EMT with his local Volunteer Fire Department. He has jumped out of helicopters to rescue drivers with OPA offshore boat racing. He still has more energy than anyone that I know. I’m doing this for him and so no other family has to lose a loved one due to this disease.

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this story. All December 100% of money earned from my pictures will be going to her Team

We are at 41% of our goal

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